What was the Emmanuel Movement? How did it influence the acceptance of psychoanalysis in the United States?
Emmanuel Movement was based upon the psychological perspective of the religious healing. It was established in the year 1906 as an extension of the Emmanuel Church that reached out in Boston, Massachusetts. In application, the elements of religious views were de-emphasized and the chief modalities were group or individual therapy. A clinic was established in the Church by the episcopal priests; it existed for about 23 years and provided both the psychological and the medical services.
The main influence was emphasized on the alcohol addicts’ treatment. The psychiatric experts of the nineteenth century include neurologists and alienist. Their primary concern was inclined towards severe pathology like mania and schizophrenia. Milder mental illness gained little attention. Later this notion became very popular amongst the people and they preferred getting treated with such notions.
The Church used to teach and conduct the classes to the large masses. It is now termed as the functional illness. During that time other components that played an important role were those who were trained by the physicians. The conservative physicists however criticized this idea. They proposed that the doctors must play a role and alone the Church must not be important in treating the people.
Later many analysts established their own concepts like Freud, Adler, Horney and others. With the efforts of Jean Martin Charcot, a French physician, hypnosis obtained larger professional identification in the medical circles. The success was achieved by Charcot, when he applied hypnosis for the treatment of hysteria. Most importantly, he explained the hysteria’s symptoms.
The term hypnosis was also used by him for the first time in the medical terminology; hence, making both the term and related symptoms to be readily acceptable by the FAS (French Academy of Science). Charcot’s work was preferentially neurological and he greatly emphasized upon the bodily disturbances, such as paralysis.
Hence, during the development of Freud’s career, in the initial years, the medical establishment was more attentive to the mental illness’s psychological cause and hypnosis, and Freud got motivated by both Charcot and Mesmer for the disclosure made by them that bestowed towards the psychoanalysis development.